1. Owners propose that players should reduce their share of the revenue from 57 percent to 46, an 11 percent decrease.

Thoughts: money is the king with these types of negotiations so expect the revenue split to be one of the biggest points of contention. Donald Fehr has expressed getting a bigger piece of the pie and considering the NHL’s tendency to boast about earnings, the NHLPA will have some serious leverage there.

Thoughts: another … ambitious goal. It’s pretty tough to imagine this happening considering that limiting UFA status to 27 already hinders a player from signing many big deals.

3. Contract length limited to five years.

Thoughts: Maybe that exact length will change, but I’d guess this would be a less contentious point.

4. No more salary arbitration.

Thoughts: It’s tough to imagine this happening, although players might be willing to wait until an older age to have this option or some other similar compromise.

5. Owners want entry-level contracts to last five years instead of three.

Thoughts: Rookies are often the biggest losers in CBA talks for a simple reason: they aren’t there. That’s why rookie maximums are becoming more common in sports. It wouldn’t be surprising if active players relent on this one, at least if there’s a grandfather clause. Five years might be a bit much, too, though. In an odd way, this is one of the greediest demands from owners because a rookie maximum already provides outstanding savings.

Hockey is one of the few sports where a 18-20 year old is capable of being a significant contributor. A 5 year entry level deal means the 18 y/o kid will only be 23. I feel rookie deals should be longer than just 3 years.

I thought the 5-year entry level deal part was one of the least appetizing things on the plate for the players. Hindering their earning power for at least two additional years and not allowed for any kind of free agency (restricted or otherwise) until perhaps the age of 25 (for those that sign at 18 and slide two years of juniors or other such loans) and then coupled with 10 years of service unrestricted free agency...yikes. That's a non-starter for me if I'm a player. 5 years of a guaranteed two-way deal that will have its own separate cap...not gonna fly.

I think the other stuff (non-HRR% stuff) is just in there as sacrificial lamb material..."alright look, we'll keep free agency the way it is, we'll forget the 5-year ELC thing but you guys only get 48% of revenues..." but that's entirely optimistic on my part...I'm not concerned...

Rylan wrote:I don't care about the players. I am just thinking on the owners side of rationalization.

Why not?

There are a lot of bubble/AHL players that barely make more than a well payed secretary, who sacrifice their body (and perhaps their brain) and have to find another way of life in their late 20s. Sometimes earlier.

This is what happens. Both sides make ridiculous claims and then they negotiate. A non-story at this point.

My opinion:There are a lot of mediocre players making decent money at this cap level with a lot of teams not making the floor. The feast/famine talent pool that is dilluted by how many teams in the league make for some dump contracts. People want to throw crap at ownership for this offer, but then laugh at rumored reports of teams offering doan 7+ mil--can't have it both ways.

Rylan wrote:I don't care about the players. I am just thinking on the owners side of rationalization.

Why not?

There are a lot of bubble/AHL players that barely make more than a well payed secretary, who sacrifice their body (and perhaps their brain) and have to find another way of life in their late 20s. Sometimes earlier.

Oh no, they might have to get a real job to earn a living! I feel so bad for them...

Well, it's not always that simple. Depending on the plan they took...you got a kid that leaves home at 15, has to finish high school on the fly, doesn't go to college and pursues a professional hockey career only to fall short of big bucks or even pension...you kick around in Europe getting a little more than expenses (i.e. not enough to really save and make significant accumulation) and then you finally get spit out at 28...now what? That would be tough on anyone...

You go to trade school instead of normal high school to learn everything about cars, cars, cars...and when you get out of school, a new invention makes cars 100% obsolete...well...now what? Hyperbole, but the point remains...you just hope that these young players made the right choices and got good advice during their youth so that they can pursue a career in something else...